Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has completed class approval testing for its HiMSEN Ammonia Dual-Fuel Engine, a four-stroke model that will be fed by direct high-pressure ammonia fuel injection.
Ammonia Engine
Showcasing ammonia energy developments in China
The recent Symposium on Ammonia Energy in Shanghai showcased the latest ammonia energy R&D, including cutting-edge work on catalysts, direct ammonia combustion, large-scale co-firing and industrial ceramics production.
Liebherr: ammonia fuel for the mining sector
Liebherr and Italy-based Bruno Generators will embark on a joint development project exploring ammonia fuel for off-grid power generation in the mining sector. Building off “promising” results in Liebherr’s own internal trials with ammonia fuel, future applications could include power for heavy vehicles like electric excavators.
Unmanned ammonia engine room gets tick of approval
The American Bureau of Shipping has granted AiP for two new autonomous technology packages developed by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries: an unmanned ammonia engine room, plus an AI safety package with rapid-response capabilities.
Wärtsilä ammonia engine to power the Viking Energy
Wärtsilä has been contracted to supply the total technology package for the conversion of the Viking Energy to run on ammonia fuel. The original plan to retrofit the vessel with a 2 MW solid oxide fuel cell system was delayed by supply chain and development challenges, but SOFC developer Alma Clean Power will continue to test and scale its direct ammonia-fed technology for maritime applications.
R&D recap: the Journal of Ammonia Energy – volume II
Ahead of the international Symposium on Ammonia Energy event next month, we recap R&D presented in the second edition of the Journal on Ammonia Energy:
- An integrated, indirect ammonia solid-oxide cell featuring a heat exchanger and ammonia cracker was modelled, built and tested by the UK’s Science and Technologies Council (STFC).
- The techno-economics of the transportation of energy from Orkney, Scotland to Milford Haven, Wales using ammonia as an energy carrier transported by ship may be the most cost-effective option.
- N2O and NOX conversion in ammonia engine exhausts is limited by the presence of oxygen and water, presenting an optimisation challenge for technology developers.
- And an academic-industry joint session on ammonia safety highlighted multiple projects currently underway to tackle the risks associated with the use of ammonia in new commercial sectors.
R&D recap: the Journal of Ammonia Energy
Ahead of the 3rd Symposium on Ammonia Energy in Shanghai next month, we take the opportunity to highlight select papers and key results from the first two editions, starting with the 2022 Cardiff event:
- In an ammonia-diesel blending study, Orleans University and WinGD found that minimising the diesel fraction actually led to increased N2O emissions.
- In a bid to produce an optimal ammonia-hydrogen fuel blend, a University of Birmingham team characterised the ammonia cracking mechanism of a new, transition metal-promoted lithium amide catalyst.
- A KAUST study of swirl intensity of an ammonia-methane blended fuel finds that increasing the swirl number leads to a more compact flame, reducing NOX emissions.
- A team from the University of Minnesota found that combustion durations comparable to gasoline were obtained for ammonia-hydrogen fuel blends.
- And, as part of a joint academic-industry session on safety, it was recommended that a careful, proactive approach is taken towards new ammonia users, likely exposure risk points and deploying maritime ammonia fuel.
Onboard cracking, fuel storage and adhering to emissions standards: highlights from the MariNH3 conference
At last month’s MariNH3 conference in Nottingham, a series of keynotes laid out the opportunities and challenges ahead for marine ammonia fuel. Onboard ammonia cracking technologies are moving through testing phases and closer to commercialisation, vessel designers are working through the unique challenges of carrying ammonia fuel onboard, and emissions mitigation technology (in combination with adherence to existing Tier 3 standards) will be necessary to ensure that ammonia-powered vessels are more environmentally-friendly than conventional counterparts.
Selective Catalytic Reduction for marine ammonia engines
MAN Energy Solutions has announced that the first SCR catalytic converter for a marine ammonia engine has passed factory tests and been delivered to Japan. Produced in China by stainless steel specialists BUTTING, the unit is designed to significantly reduce NOx emissions from ammonia combustion engines.